The Silver Star Promise
by MoonxLauri
Summary: Yet another fanfic starring Till the Storyteller


The Storyteller named Till watched with quiet sorrow as the Killjoy resistance began to crumble beneath the pressure of BL/ind, weakened by the supposed deaths of the Fabulous Four. They could not endure the struggle on their own, and it killed him that he could not tell the Killjoy populace that their heroes were alive and well, sheltered within his motherland's forests.

In due time Storyteller's wounds healed; though instead of moving on, he stayed with Renegade Star and her camp of Killjoys. This was partially due to the fact that he had strained his wounds too soon, and also he felt protective of her. She was not a child, it would be wrong to label her as such, but she was still innocent. Innocent because of the naive hope she had that BL/ind could still be toppled. She continued to push on, kept fighting for a cause that was falling down all around her, and the Storyteller merely waited patiently at her side for her strength to falter. He wanted to be the one to catch her when she collapsed, when she gazed up at him with those mismatched eyes -

"_Move your body when the sunlight dies  
Everybody hide your body from the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W  
Everybody hide_"

The eerie warning voice sang causing a flurry in which Killjoys seemed to disappear into the sand. Renegade clasped Storyteller's hand, entwined their fingers and pulled him along until she found a tiny doorway, nestled into a sand dune, and opening it, and ordered him to crawl into it. He did so quickly and soon after heard the sound of her behind him, the door closing with a scritch of sand, his cloak making a sssh,sssh,sssh as he crawled.

After a minute or two, even though it was pitch black, Till could feel that he had entered an area with more space. He was proven right when Renegade clicked on her flashlight and showed that they were in a little shack.

It was an ingenious idea, really, that a Killjoy had come up with. These shacks that were built purposefully close to sand dunes were done so that they would be covered up and only accessed by small doors that blended in, with a tunnel leading from doorway to shack so that entrance wasn't completely covered by sand. It took skill to find them and Till admired that Renegade was able to find these little nooks so quickly, though she had to be able to if she was to survive out here. Even with his plentiful experience of traversing this desert, his eyes were not accustomed to the ever changing sand. The Storyteller was used to his motherland where trees only ever moved when they grew, died or fell down, the latter usually done by nature or his axe. Again the warning came, drifting over now empty desert, harsh burnt orange against a blindingly blue sky.

"_Move your body when the sunlight dies  
Everybody hide your body from the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W  
Everybody hide_"

The two did not say a word when Storyteller opened his arms and she crawled into his embrace, neither of them daring to breathe. Who knew how thin or thick the sand might be on any sides of the shack? Even the bravest of Killjoys in these situations sought the comfort of another human touch; it was only natural.  
He could feel the quick beating of her heart from where her back was pressed against his chest, his arms hugging her knees to her chest, her small sun browned hands resting on top of his as they waited-

- A shriek-

- Two screams-

And then suddenly Till was struggling to restrain Renegade, clamping a hand over her mouth to muffle her shout, right arm a vice around her waist as she fought to go out and save her fellow Killjoys. "It's too late, Renegade, stop fighting!" He hissed; she shook her head and thrashed all the more as the screams became shrill from pain. The piercing sound made the hair on the back of Till's neck stand up.

It was the broken, gurgling pleading, the smack of flesh against flesh, the vomiting from pain and the agonized screams of her Killjoys being tortured that broke Renegade. She jammed her fingers in her ears but _dear God she couldn't_ - she started sobbing when Till pressed her close, burying her face into the crook of his neck and trembling uncontrollably. Renegade pressed all the closer when the screams stopped and left in its place a silence so oppressive she wanted to scream herself hoarse. Anything so long as she could escape the reality that she had lost her brethren, that their screams and pleas had tainted her mind.

She fell asleep trembling and clutching the Storyteller's cloak, feeling him soothingly stroking her hair.

-

A slow, steady rise and fall of pliable warmth brought Renegade Star to consciousness. She opened her eyes and simply laid there, pleasantly refreshed from a good, deep sleep after her crying jag. The warmth cocooning her made her drowsy, eyes sleepily sliding shut again as she yawned. It was when Till yawned that Renegade bolted upright, realizing she had been resting her head on his chest, cozied up to him. A blush rose to her cheeks causing her star tattoos scattered across her cheeks like freckles to stand out.

"What time is it?" She questioned, looking down the tunnel, as a way to avoid looking at Storyteller. It went without saying that no one - well, somebody that no one knew - had been this intimate with him before. He didn't have a mysterious reputation for nothing. The sunlight that had made it part way down the tunnel told her it was morning.

_Morning...that meant she had slept the whole night_!

"Why did you let me sleep? I have Killjoys to take care of, I can't sleep the night away!" Renegade exclaimed, turning to glare at Till. He held up his hands in surrender, his silver palm tattoo catching Renegade's eye as it always did.

"You needed sleep and your Killjoys are fine, you both needed to rest."

"You don't get it Till! We can never rest! **Never**! To stop is to die!" An icy expression came to the older man's face, freezing his sea glass green eyes.

"You forget yourself Renegade, I have walked this desert far longer than you. Have you not seen the proof?" He inquired icily to which Renegade pressed her mouth into a tight line, knowing that he had her there.

The deep boom of thunder startled the two out of their angry stares. Both instinctively ducked at the sound; loud noises most often meant attacks and it took them a moment to figure out that it was from the rain, not a bomb as they'd feared. There came the scritch of the door as it opened and the holler of one of Renegade's Killjoys as they crawled towards them. The two looked at the entrance and waited until the Killjoy had made it. The Killjoy who was sopping wet solemnly told Renegade Star: "We lost three to S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W. They've taken the bodies with them again."

Renegade Star clenched her jaw as she wiped at her eyes and nodded. "Who were they?"

"Electric Pup, Dancing Sky, and Alpha Dog."

"At least they took the family all together." She murmured to which she gave a snort of bitter laughter that surprised Till, when had his innocent one become so cynical towards the world? The messenger Killjoy nodded, eyes downcast, waiting to be allowed to re-join his brethren in the rain, so that he too could celebrate the lives of those who had died. "Go on, Hermes, I know you were close to them."

Hermes nodded; but he also looked up at her and stated "You were close to them too, don't forget that." His gaze flickering towards the Storyteller before he turned and crawled back out.

"What was **that** look for?" Storyteller questioned, utterly bewildered at why Hermes had given him a look of such wariness. It was as if Hermes thought Till would convince Renegade to forsake the mourning dance that had become part of Killjoy custom.

"Everyone's noticed that you haven't moved on, Storyteller. It's unusual and I've been wanting to ask you why you've stayed for so long. Not that I haven't enjoyed you being here - it's just out of the blue." Renegade asked, curious for why he had chosen to stay with her camp. Till looked down at his palm and smiled affectionately at the tattoo as he traced it.

"I told you once to cross my palm with silver and that I would then tell you of freedom. I will keep my promise, but be content to wait, I will tell you of freedom when you are in need of it." He explained catching her mismatched eyes for a long moment before she nodded in agreement.

"Then come, let us celebrate our lost loved ones' lives. They'll be honored that the great Storyteller danced for them."

Till gave a wry half-smile and followed her as she crawled down the tunnel and out into the rain. When it touched his skin he gasped; it was not cold as he thought it would be, but warm. He wondered what Frank would think of the rain in his motherland, which was cold and was known to rain steadily for a day or two.  
He shook his head and allowed Renegade to lead him towards the dancing Killjoys, for now it was only Renegade Star he would look after and worry for; he still had a promise of freedom to keep to her.


End file.
